Improvement in melting and decarbonizing iron



`Sponding part-s.

I ilNiTED ASTATES PATENT UEEi'cE,

CHARLES PETERS, oE TEEn'roN, `NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN MELTING AND DECARBONIZING IRON.

Specification formingipart of Letters Patent No. 96,479, .dated November 2, 1869.l

T0 will whom it may concern: g

Beit known that I, CHARLES PETERS, of

Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have inventeda' new and useful Improvement in Furnaces for Melting and Decarbonizing Iron; and Ldo hereby declare that the following is a' full, clear, and exact Y description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of-this specification.l

This invention relates to a newand useful improvement in me1ting,decarbonizing, and desulphurizin'g iron; and it consists in melting the iron at the top ofthe stack or cupola and dropping'v the melted iron through a column of iameand onto a solid cone or bed, Whereby'the globules of iron are burst, and in supplying oxygen or atmospheric air to the iron on ornear the cone or bed, and in so arranging the furnace that thes'urplus heat may be utilized for generating steam or other purposes, as will be hereinafter more fully dei scribed. Y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation ofthe furnace in the section, being through the line :v x of Fig..

2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal 'section through the line y y of Fig. l.'

Similar letters of reference indicate corr'e-` A is the stack or cupola, which is closed at the top.

B is 'the fire-box, into which the fuel is introduced through the door C.

The iron to be melted is laid on the bed D,

l and is introduced through the door E.

- F is an air-chamber, into which the blast is'` forced by any Suitable blowing apparatus.

G is a tuyere, (two or more may be used,) through which 'the fuel is supplied with air.

` The blast and products of combustion are forced in contact with the iron on the bed D,

Ionto the conc T.

ing the exit of the ilame and lleatvfrom'tlle melting-chamber, and to render the heat more intense in that chanber.

T (near the bottom of the stack) isa conical formation, supported on a short pedestal from the bottom of the stack, made of Sonie incombustiblc material. The melted iron' will run down on lthe inclined surface of the bed D,and fall through the stack A, which is filled with the flaming products of combustion, and drop The concussion thus produced Will burst the globules and hat ten them.

When the iron is in this condition (or in the f form of scales) it is met by ablast of airor oxygen from the air-chamber F, (or from any other source,) conveyed-'through the pipe K, and discharged through one or more tuyeres, asis don e in ordinary melting cupolafurnaces. This blast or supply of oxygen is regulated by a suitable damper or valve inthe conductingpipe. This-supply of oxygen combining with the particles ofiron completely decarbonizes it and also frees it from'sulphurv and other impurities. The melted iron thus purified settles in thebottom of the Stack, from which it isdrawn by the ordinary method of tapping. For recarbonizing the iron after being thus puried and converting the iron into steel of a harder character, the' bottom of the stack may be'formed of charcoal or other equivalent Ina- I do not coniine myself to the particular details ofthisarrangement. Asshownin thedrawings, my invention consists `mainly in melting the iron at thetop of the stack or cupola and. Y

dropping it down through the heated prodctsA of combustion and allowing it toimpinge upon someA hard substance or material which shall burst the globules, and at or near the bursting point to furnish it with an additional supply of oxygen. Y

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new an'd desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Melting iron at or nearv the top of the stack or cupola, down through which the blast ,with the products of combustion is forced,

substantially as described. v,

2. Dropping the melted iron from the melting-bed through the blast and heatedproduicts of combustion in the stack or cupola, substarb tially as described.

' stantiallyas described.

` Dropping the melted iron onto :L cone or A,' and oone J, substantially as y and for the l hard 4sui-)stance for bursting the globules, subpurposes described.

f 6.4 The exit-flue H near the bottom of melt` 4. Furnishing the melte'd iron,wh en in the 1 ing stack or cupola, substantially as shown.

finely-divided state,(eaused bybursting of the The `above speeiction of my invent-ion globu1es,) with oxygen by means of a blast signed by me this 17thday-.ofSeptemben1869 through pipes or tuyeres, substantially as and p CHARLES PETERS. for the. purposes described. Y Vitnesses: t

5. The combination and arrangement of the GEO. W. MABEE,

fire-chamberB, melting'bed D, stak or cupola ALEX. F. ROBERTS. 

